Retirement Systems

Employees of Ohio public colleges and universities do not contribute to the federal Social Security system, other than contributions to Medicare. Within the university, eligible employees automatically contribute to the state retirement system.

Staff positions participate in the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS),
Faculty positions contribute to the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS),
Law enforcement officers contribute to a special branch of OPERS for Law Enforcement Officers (LEO).

Full time employees have the option to choose the Alternative Retirement Plan (ARP) (must be elected within 120 days of start date).
Statement Concerning Your Employment in a Job Not Covered by Social Security (SSA-1945)

In addition to the required retirement contributions we also offer Voluntary Retirement Plans (403b and 457). These are plans that you can additionally contribute to, to save additional funds for your retirement.

Retiring from the University

Prepping to Retire

OPERS & LEO

1-800-222-7377
www.opers.org
For OPERS forms click here.
What is OPERS?: Ohio Public Employees Retirement System-All employees who are paid in whole or in part by the state of Ohio, a county, municipality, or any other political subdivision of state or local government in Ohio must become members of OPERS unless they are covered by another state retirement system in Ohio or by the Cincinnati Retirement System. Membership begins from the first date of employment.

LEO PDF Handout
What is LEO: LEO is the Law Enforcement Public Safety Officers section of OPERS. This is offered only to our law enforcement officers within the University or Hospital.

STRS

1-888-227-7877
www.strsoh.org
What is STRS?: State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio is one of the nation’s leading retirement systems, serving about 500,000 active, inactive and retired Ohio public educators.
For STRS forms click here.

ARP

Alternative Retirement Plans
Vendor Contact list
For ARP Forms click here
What is ARP?: The ARP plans are considered a 401a type retirement plan. This option gives you the choice to seek out the option to invest your money into mutual funds with one of our vendors off our Vendor Contact list above. You have 120 days from your hire date to choose this option. This option is only available to full time employees.

Retirement Benefit Plan Eligibility

Retirement benefit plan eligibility is based upon the appropriate plan in which an employee participates. The following defines the age and/or service requirements under each plan to be eligible for retirement under the State of Ohio Retirement System.

Requirements to Receive Benefits

Voluntary Retirement Plan-403b

Vendor Contact Information
What is a Voluntary Retirement Plans (VRP)?: It is a plan that allows employees to put aside money into an investment account, which can build income for retirement. Since contributions are taken from your salary before taxes are deducted, you receive an immediate tax-break. Your current taxable income is lowered for the year. Investing through the VRP only reduces your pay for income tax purposes; it does not affect how pay raises are calculated or any other benefits that are based upon pay.

You may sign up for a VRP, discontinue or make changes to your current VRP at any time during the year. To sign up for a VRP, please complete the following steps:

Please visit Retirement@Work to enroll, disenroll or make changes to your VRP.

Note: Employees who are on a 9-month appointment will have 19 deductions per calendar year, and 12-month employees will have 26 deductions per calendar year. Deductions will begin on the pay date you indicate, if received within the payroll-processing deadline. Student Employees are not eligible for a 403b plan.

Retirement@Work User Guide
2020 Universal Availability Notice

Voluntary Retirement Plan-457

Ohio Deferred Comp 457b
877-644-6457
EZ Enrollment Form
What is a Voluntary Retirement Plans (VRP)?: It is a plan that allows employees to put aside money into an investment account, which can build income for retirement. Since contributions are taken from your salary before taxes are deducted, you receive an immediate tax-break. Your current taxable income is lowered for the year. Investing through the VRP only reduces your pay for income tax purposes; it does not affect how pay raises are calculated or any other benefits that are based upon pay. You may sign up for a VRP, discontinue or make changes to your current VRP at any time during the year.

*Employer ARP Mitigating Contribution
Retirement System Contributions Effective 7/1/17
Retirement Plan	Employee Contribution	Employer Contribution
STRS	14%	14%
STRS/ARP	14%	14% (9.53% to Plan, 4.47% Administrative Fee*)
OPERS	10%	14%
OPERS/ARP	10%	14% (11.56% to Plan, 2.44% Administrative Fee*)

Employee contributions are "deducted" by the University from the employee's gross pay and paid directly to the retirement systems, thereby enabling employees to defer current federal and state taxes on this income.

Members of the STRS, OPERS, or ARP who leave University employment may withdraw their retirement contributions. The University’s contributions are vested after five years. This means that if the contributions are left on deposit, STRS or OPERS members will receive a pension at retirement age. For ARP members, vesting is immediate.

For further details on our plans please fee free to review our notes from Payroll.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act allows retirement plan sponsors to offer participants additional financial relief. The Retirement Review Committee has voted for the following provisions pursuant to the CARES Act:

403(b) Coronavirus Related Distributions: The CARES Act waives the 10% early withdrawal penalty and 20% withholding for a Coronavirus Related Distribution (CRD) up to $100,000. These distributions will be subject to taxation; taxes may be paid over a three year period.

UToledo Human Resources